Pancit Canton

One of the signature Filipino dishes is Pancit. Pancit is noodles that were introduced to the Philippines by the Chinese. They are very similar to chow mein and lo mein. There are various forms of Pancit such as Pancit Bihon and Pancit Canton.  I have grown up eating the various Filipino dishes such as bistek, which is thinly, sliced beef cooked with soy sauce and lemon juice along with onions and caldereta is basically a Filipino beef stew with various vegetables. Another popular Filipino dish are egg rolls. At your typical Filipino party you would most likely all of these dishes.  A Filipino almost always eats Pancit on their birthday because according to Filipino tradition the noodles represent long life and good health.

            Pancit Canton differs from Pancit Bihon because of the noodle used. Pancit Bihon uses rice sticks while Pancit Canton uses flour sticks. I prefer Pancit Canton because I think the flour noodles taste better but that’s just my opinion.  So I decided I would attempt to cook Pancit Canton.

So I decided I would use this recipe:

1/4 c. vegetable oil

1 med. onion, finely chopped
1 c. shredded cabbage

1/2 c. celery, cut in strips

1/2 tsp. salt and pepper

1 pkg. pancit canton

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 cups chicken broth

You can add pork, chicken and shrimp, but I decided I would keep it simple since this was my first time making Pancit Canton.

I heated up the oil to brown the garlic cloves and then added the onions. I then added the some soy sauce for flavor. Next, I added the cabbage and celery season them with salt and pepper. Then I added 2 cups of chicken broth and stirred it for 2 minutes. Lastly, I added the Pancit canton noodles and cooked over low heat for 3 minutes.

Although they weren’t as good as my grandma’s, I thought they came out pretty well especially for my first time.